A Day at the Office

Week of May 14, 2017:  New arrivals, transfers, departures, finally home!

Elders Chang and Hawkins, the AP's. 

Elder Chang from Taiwan, Elder Hawkins from Arlington, WA!

Elder and Sister Okeson going home.

They served as Military Relations at Annapolis Naval Academy.

Departure dinner for 15 missionaries.
So glad we are invited!

After delayed flights, Elder Sherratt finally made

it home to California minus some of his luggage.

Happy Birthday, Lila!

Happy 7th birthday to our granddaughter!  Lila is smart, funny, and brave. She doesn't just smile with her mouth, she smiles with her whole face!  It is wonderful to witness and she is wonderful to be around. Wish we were together right now. Have a great day, tomorrow, Lila, we will be thinking of you all day long!

TaiPei Cafe

Elder Chang, one on our AP's, suggested we try this café. It serves Taiwanese Chinese food. Menu options included several recipes with pig intestines, livers, and kidneys and oyster recipes, including an oyster omelet. Then there is live fish with pickled vegetable soup, pork belly and pork stomach recipes (what's the difference?), squid and cold sliced seaweed. And don't forget the jelly fish. I ponder how our culture ever got to the point that we eat very little of what the world has to offer in food, sticking with the twelve or so item fast food menu. That being said, we stuck with some great wonton soup, shrimp fried rice, and braised beef w/leeks.

This is the menu. We were given an English one of course. 

This is a Chinese joke. I asked the owner to read it to me, but she said it wouldn't be funny to me, only to Chinese.

Happy Birthday, Brady!

Happy birthday to this young man  on Saturday, May 6th!  Brady is smart, a great joke teller, has a beautiful, quick, smile and infectious laugh, and you just want to hug him when you see him. I wish I could right now!  Happy 11th! We love you, Brady!

Happy Birthday, Russ!

It is this handsome boy's fifth birthday this Sunday, April 30th. Russ is a  happy, fast, smart, and very charming boy. He  plays on a three man soccer team and last week the team was down a man, so Russ stepped up to the plate, so to speak, and scored six goals!  Happy Birthday Russ!

Harper's Ferry, WV

Saturday, April 21st, drove to Harper's Ferry, WV.  The most important things to know about Harper's Ferry are:

It's sits right on the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers, a very beautiful spot. Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia meet there. Thomas Jefferson visited there once, hiked up to a very high spot and declared the site, "perhaps one of the most stupendous scene in nature."

George Washington set up an armory and arsenal in Harper's Ferry, which was one of only two in the United States. His brother moved close by, and started Charles Town.

It became a modern, industrial area, with canals, railroads, and turbines to generate electrical power. It was a very prosperous town, with many businesses.

Meriwether Lewis purchased all the weapons and hardware needed for the Lewis and Clark Expedition, from the Amory and Arsenal, which included a collapsible iron boat frame, which ironically did not work.

Harper's Ferry is where in 1859, abolitionist (very radical) John Brown, in an effort to organize  and arm slaves to end slavery, took over the government arsenal. Long story, but if I counted right, 16 were killed and five were hanged, including John Brown.

During the Civil War, Harper's Ferry, changed hands between the north and south eight times. Both sides bombed the h, e, double hockey sticks out of the town, railroad, armory, arsenal, and canals, and it never recovered it's previous prosperity.

The site of Storer College, established after the Civil War, a freedman's school open to all regardless of sex, race, or religion.

Harper's Ferry National Historic Park, the Appalachian National Historic Trail, and the Shenandoah National Park all border the area.

It is a beautiful and very interesting place. It rained, so the crowds were small and we had a fun day.

We saw a mom explaining to her kids what a pay phone is......

                    

United States Naval Acadamy Annapolis, Maryland

Monday, April 17th, some of the senior missionaries took a tour of the U.S. Naval Academy in beautiful Annapolis, MD. It was so impressive.  Annapolis is the state capitol of Maryland, and sits on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River,  about 30 miles east of Washington, D.C. It is a beautiful town complete with cobblestone streets, and a beautiful wharf and marina.

The tour of the Academy was by Elder and Sister Okeson, military relations missionaries.  He is retired Navy, graduate of University of Idaho and  had a stellar career in commanding nuclear submarines and other navy nuclear work.  He was a walking encyclopedia about the Navy and the Academy, so it was a great tour.

When in Rome, go Navy!

Navy mascot, the goat -  there's a story there.

Officer housing

View from the Academy, of the state capital building. The lightening rod on top is a

"Ben Franklin", constructed and grounded to his specifications.  It has been up there

for more than 225 years.

Academy's superintendent's home

These eight  pictures are of the Naval Academy Chapel, seats

2500, and used by Catholic and Protestant congregations.

There is  many stained glass windows each depicting a

biblical scene. Very beautiful.

The last picture is a row that is closed off and lighted every Sunday

for the midshipmen who never returned from battle.